Record 120 seniors graduate at Blair Oaks

The Blair Oaks High School graduating class awaits their diplomas in Jefferson City on Sunday, May 14, 2017.
The Blair Oaks High School graduating class awaits their diplomas in Jefferson City on Sunday, May 14, 2017.

The sun set on the verdant hills around Blair Oaks High School as a stream of equally green robes rolled through the audience sitting in the bleachers for the school's 49th commencement ceremony.

The class of 2017 was noted as a group of high achievers with a record 120 graduates who flowed onto the football field to receive their diplomas. Among the fold, 23 students graduated with 4.0 grade point averages (GPA) and 61 graduated with GPAs of 3.5 or higher, Guidance Counselor Jill Shanley said. Several students earned academic and athletic achievements. The class amassed 1,616 college credit hours before even entering an institution of higher learning. When the graduates do get to college, the class will have more than $2.2 million in scholarships to help fund their education.

"Each of you have grown up green (the school's main color)," Shanley said. "Some of you started in kindergarten, many of you joined somewhere along the way to create the biggest graduating class in Blair Oaks history. When you joined doesn't really matter, because together this class has carried on the tradition that 48 other classes established."

Shanley also recognized how well the students came together after classmate Bradley Gilbert died from cancer. "As I stand here tonight, I have no doubt Bradley is looking down on you all, wearing his camo hat, grinning his infectious smile, so proud of what you have accomplished," she said.

Superintendent James Jones wished the moms in the audience a happy Mothers Day. The graduates gave their parents flowers during the ceremony.

The commencement speaker was State Technical College of Missouri Professor Kelli Jones. Over her 18 years around the school, the mother of four Blair Oaks students said she has coached, taught and even changed the diapers of some of the graduates.

"I bleed green," she said.

Jones spoke of the hard work and determination required to get ahead in university campuses and competitive workforces, which fits to the class' selected quote by Mahatma Gandhi, "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

But, passion is required to truly succeed in any career.

"You constantly need to be growing and learning," Jones said. "A strong education increases a person's chance of having a healthy life. It's important never to be stagnant."

The closing thoughts were given by class president Emilee Jones, who shared some of her favorite memories with members of the class and pushed her peers to strive for victory in their futures. "Now, it is time for you to go out and compete, and to go out and win," she said. "As a senior class, we must aspire to do something great. We must accept the challenges set before us and ride them on to the sunset of success."